Department of Modern English Language and Linguistics
Dr Declan O'Loughlin is a leading researcher in conversation analysis, specialising in institutional interaction and emergency communication. His research examines the sequential organisation of emergency telephone calls, with particular attention to the negotiation of urgency, the management of uncertainty and the interactional practices through which callers and emergency service personnel establish shared understandings of critical situations.
He is the recipient of a prestigious Future Leaders Fellowship, supporting his research project Understanding Emergency Communication: A Conversation Analytic Approach to Crisis Interaction. The fellowship has enabled him to develop an ambitious programme of research examining the communicative challenges associated with emergency response.
His recent work also explores the transformative potential of artificial intelligence and digital innovation for enhancing emergency communication systems.
Publications
- O'Loughlin, D. (2026) Establishing the nature of the emergency: Preliminary observations on problem formulation in calls to emergency services. Journal of Conversation and Interaction 19(2): 115–139.
- O'Loughlin, D. and Wiley, T. (2025) Transforming crisis communication: Towards an innovative framework for AI-enhanced emergency response interactions. International Journal of Digital Communication Futures 14(3): 201–228.
- O'Loughlin, D. (2023) When callers cannot answer: Delays, silences and the negotiation of urgency in emergency telephone encounters. Discourse and Social Interaction 17(1): 41–68.
- O'Loughlin, D., Wiley, T. and Morgan, S. (2021) Resilient communication infrastructures: Harnessing digital innovation to optimise frontline interaction in times of crisis. Journal of Transformative Communication Systems 9(4): 177–203.
- O'Loughlin, D. (2019) “Where exactly are you?”: Location requests and the management of uncertainty in emergency calls. Journal of Applied Conversation Analysis 12(2): 89–117.
- O'Loughlin, D. (2017) The sequential organisation of requests for assistance in emergency telephone calls. Studies in Talk and Social Interaction 50(3): 251–270.
- O'Loughlin, D. (2015) “Tell me what's happened”: Problem presentation and recipient design in emergency service encounters. Journal of Pragmatic Intervention 8(2): 77–101.
- O'Loughlin, D. (2014) Repair and clarification in institutional telephone interaction: A conversation analytic study. Discourse and Social Interaction 8(1): 31–56.